The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - February 11, 2000

MEA CULPA
I said I would post the replies on the Outback and staff meal questions last weekend . . . and I didn't get to it until yesterday. Too many balls in the juggle these days, I guess. In any case, they are there now and you can check them out at www.restaurantdoctor.com/ehc/outback.html and www.restaurantdoctor.com/ehc/stafmeal.html.

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD ... A MIRROR FOR YOUR LIFE?
I received a couple of interesting responses to my comments last week about Chicken Caesar Salads:

Bob Swaney <centerring@aol.com> writes:
Regarding Chicken Caesar Salad ... the problem is the lack of professionals in the food profession (and most other service industries). Anybody can be hired as a cook (didn't say chef), anybody can be hired as a server, anybody can be hired as a manager. Add to that the lack of investment in training as well as a lack of appreciation for high standards on the public's part (in the Virginia Peninsula area, a public poll yielded Olive Garden and Outback as places to take a special person for a special evening...yet up the road Marcel Desaulniers has one of America's premier special occasion restaurants!). These are the ingredients for inconsistent Caesar Salad. Best response to all this is to keep chipping away at operators and the public. Good luck!

Lisa Gleason <lgleason@gleasongroup.com> added this observation:
I have to laugh about your Caesar salad commentary. I have pondered this issue so many times and used a similar example with my customers. I constantly ask: How hard can it be to make a good Chicken Caesar Salad? What I find interesting is that the majority of customers have the Chicken Caesar in the top 10 of there menu items, but many have never tasted it. It's amazing to watch an owner taste a bad salad and be totally shocked that this is what they are serving to paying guests! Moral of the story: Eat your way through your menu. It is isn't up to standard, fix it or get rid of it!

A note from the Doc:
When was the last time you tasted everything on your menu? Even if you have standardized recipes (and you know you should!), are they really standardized? Are they always being followed rigorously? Inconsistency will lead to lack of trust and ultimately will kill your business. If someone complains, you can take care of it, of course, but people do not want bad food for free!

(Do you understand that this discussion is really not about Chicken Caesar Salad?)

Have fun.

[ Home ] [ Top ] [ Email Restaurant Doctor ]